REHOBOTH — By a margin of just two votes, Rehoboth residents narrowly rejected a ballot initiative on Monday for the community to pay its share of a bond on a proposed roof repair project at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School.

The roof repair project — carrying an estimated $6,698,587 price tag, but with 52 percent of the project to be covered by state funding — was voted down by 655 Rehoboth voters, while 653 voted in favor of the initiative. There were 54 voters who left the question blank on their ballots. The extremely slim vote of disapproval came amidst lingering contention about assessment issues related to the regional high school, which is located on property in Dighton, according to Rehoboth officials on the Board of Selectmen and the regional school committee.

On a separate ballot question, voters passed an article to allocate funds to pay a bond to repair the 13-year-old roof at Beckwith Middle School, which is located in Rehoboth and only serves Rehoboth students. With 735 voting in favor of the article, and 568 voting against it, the town authorized bond payments to cover the estimated $2,827,207 project, which was approved for $1,469,189 in state funding.

Rehoboth voters also elected a new member to the town’s five-person Board of Selectmen on Monday, while a one-term incumbent was re-elected to a second three-year term.

Dave Perry was voted onto the Rehoboth Board of Selectmen, with 888 votes in the three-way race for two seats. Michael Costello retained his spot on the board with 744 voters casting a ballot in his favor.

“I want to assist the other selectmen in running the town in a fiscally responsible way,” Perry said on Monday. “The town has got to go into the future, but I don’t want it to lose its rural character.”

Challenger David Laurino received 644 votes in the Board of Selectmen race. Voters could cast two votes for the two selectmen positions available.

The voter turnout was 17 percent, with 1,362 voters casting a ballot..

Costello said that his biggest goals during his next term are to contribute to the construction of a new Rehoboth Town Hall and to accomplish a remodeling of the community’s public safety building.

“I just can tell you how much gratitude I have for the support I get for people in town,” Costello said. “That’s why I continue to do what I do. … I didn’t finish what I started the first three years. There are still a lot of things that I want accomplished. … I also want to see our capital improvement account continued and growing, so we can buy equipment we desperately need.”

Heather Cross, a newcomer to public office, and incumbent Tiffany Bartholomew both ran unopposed on the ballot for two seats on the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School Committee. They will each serve for the next three years.

Page 2 of 3 - “I’m looking forward to representing the families of the communities of Dighton-Rehoboth,” said Cross, who has three children, with one at each of the public schools serving the town. “We have a lot of great kids in the school system and supportive parents. I’m hoping we continue to grow in all aspects. “

Asked about the high school roof repair ballot question, Cross said that disagreements over whether Dighton was paying its fair share have boiled to the surface amongst voters.

“There is a lot of animosity going on between two towns currently, unfortunately,” said Cross, speaking on the politics surrounding Dighton and Rehoboth’s regional school system. “The high school is on Dighton’s property and we’ve had some assessment issues. We have a whole new assessment coming forward and Rehoboth is taking a big hit. That’s weighing on a lot of the voters minds. We have to re-due our assessment.”

Several voters interviewed at polling stations on Monday said that uncertainty surrounding the future of the school system, the perceived inequity about the assessment to Rehoboth for the regional high school and a supposed lack of transparency in the district’s budget process, led them to vote against the high school roof repair project.

“It’s an unsettled situation,” said Lloyd Simpson, who cast his vote at the Rehoboth Senior Center. “I don’t want to go into long-term agreement with the high school until that’s worked out.”

Kevin Fricker, interviewed at the South Rehoboth Fire Station, said that there has even been talk by town officials about Rehoboth removing itself from the regional school district and either building its own high school or joining another regional district.

“There are too many people in the dark about how this would affect the town and the taxpayers,” Fricker said. “We need to take a good look at the budgets.”

State and local officials have said roof repairs would significantly extend the lifespan of their buildings.

At a Dighton Special Town Meeting last month, voters in that town approved an article calling for the high school roof repair, after the project was authorized by the regional school district. Dighton is scheduled to vote on the project as well during their upcoming April 12 election.

Last year, the regional school district received state approval for a 52 percent reimbursement for roof repairs at Dighton Middle School, Dighton Elementary School, Beckwith Middle School and Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School. The school district was ruled eligible last summer for $3,485,160 in state grants to fund the high school roof repair project, under a Massachusetts School Building Authority program.

Page 3 of 3 - In addition to the school issues during the election, there was a contested election for a position on the town’s Board of Assessors. In a two-man race for one seat — and three years — on the Rehoboth Board of Assessors, construction company owner Charles R. Procopio won with 853 votes. Joseph Ferrini Jr. received 397 votes.

Procopio, who also serves on the Rehoboth Park Commission and is the president of the Rehoboth Lions Club, said the Board of Assessors “is a very important job,” but that he is up to the task.

“It’s kind of a behind the scenes job, doing things we need to be done,” Procopio said. “I have 30-plus years experience in commercial and residential building. Seeing the things out there shouldn’t be a problem for me. I can promise to do the best job I can.”

The rest of the candidates on the ballot won uncontested races, including Cheryl A. Gouveia for tax collector (three years); Laura L. Schwall for town clerk (one year); John V. Moriarty for planning board (five-year term); Kathleen Amaral for the park commission (five-year term); Walter H. Munroe for the housing authority commission (five-year term), in addition to water commission (three-year term); Werner Horlbeck for the water commission (three-year term); Thomas B. Nicholson for water commission (one-year term); and William J. Cute Jr. for town moderator (one-year term).